How to Save Money on Personal Hygiene Items

I am always looking for ways to cut back on our expenses. I am sure you are doing the same. One of the things I have been thinking about recently, is how to cut back on personal hygiene or personal care items. These are items that are still considered necessities, but I want to make sure you and I are able to get them for as cheap as possible!

Below are 16 tips that I personally use or have done to help reduce my personal hygiene expenses. (please note that this post contains affiliate links which means I would earn a little bit of money if you decide to sign up through my link. Don’t worry though! I only recommend those items that I personally use and think you would find beneficial).

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Razors

Almost a year ago now, my husband and I started using Dollar Shave Club to buy our razors. They are a subscription service that allows you to choose what type of razor you want, and if you want them every month or every other month. They are so much cheaper than buying the razors my husband was getting at the store He was spending around $25 each month on just his razors, because he has a lot of hair on his face and it grows really quickly. So he would typically be able to get 2-4 uses out of one razor head before having to throw it out. Now we’ve reduced our expense for razors for both of us from $30 a month to $9.00 every other month! We choose the most expensive option too! You could get razors for as little as $3.00 every other month. They also have other products like after shave, and lotion that you can try! If you decide to try them please use my referral link.

Keep Your Razor Dry

Did you know that moisture actually dulls the blade on your razor and can shorten it’s life span? I’ve heard of people who dry their razor after use and then store them in a dry place and are able to use it all year long. I have never personally been able to do this but I am able to use a razor for several months doing this! This is just another fantastic way to not have to purchase as many razors!

Apps

There are some really great apps that you can install on your phone to help you save money while shopping for anything, including personal hygiene items. I personally use two apps pretty consistently, Ibotta and Shopkick.

Shopkick is one of the top ways I earn money very quickly while shopping. This is an app that allows you to earn points (called kicks) that you can redeem for gift cards or even gifts (although the gifts seem to cost a lot of kicks so I typically stick with the gift cards). You can earn kicks by having the app open when you walk into a store, for scanning various items as you walk through a store, and for certain purchases you make. I personally have already earned over $60 in gift cards and recommend this to everyone! If you are interested in joining Shopkick, please use my referral link!

Ibotta is an app that you can use to earn additional cash back from the things you are already purchasing. All you have to do is unlock a reward (like bread, soap, meat, etc.) and then once you have purchased the item you take a picture of it and your receipt and voila, money in your account! If you decide to give this app a try please use my referral code RKIOW. If you do, you would start with $10 automatically in your account, and I’d get $5.

Pharmacy Stores

I don’t know how many of you know this, but I use to be an extreme couponer. I had the massive binder of coupons that I would carry into stores, and I had a pretty decent sized stock pile. I even went through recycling bins to find more coupons! Now I don’t do this anymore, but one thing I still know to be true is that pharmacy stores like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid are gold mines when it comes to personal hygiene items! Here’s what you have to do to get products for super cheap or even free at these stores:

Sign up for their reward program (it’s free)

Grab their weekly sales ads

Grab your manufacturer coupons

Grab their store coupons (Walgreens has a coupon book)

Make a plan on how to get the best rewards from combining the sales with your coupons

Purchase the items you need at a fantastic price, sometimes even for free!

Store Reward Programs

This goes along pretty well with the Pharmacy stores above, but one of the best ways you can save on your personal hygiene items is to join your store’s reward program. There are so many stores who have free loyalty reward programs and it doesn’t hurt you at all to join! This will grant you access to their store sales and save you lots of money in the long run!

Dollar Tree

I love shopping at the Dollar Tree! Now while most people shop there for fun or gag items, I also shop there for personal hygiene necessities. However, I am always keeping quality over quantity in mind. Just because you can purchase shampoo and body wash for $1 doesn’t mean you should. Read the ingredients list to see why. But I do enjoy buying items that are kind of basic such as q-tips, band-aids, bobby pins, hair ties etc. These are items you may have trouble finding anywhere cheaper and I have found the quality to be just as great as those items at a regular grocery store.

Using Alternatives

I am always looking for alternatives to the chemicals that are found in many of the personal hygiene products we use. I love putting coconut oil on the ends of my hair instead of a traditional conditioner. It has also been recommended to me to use malt vinegar or apple cider vinegar instead of an expensive dandruff shampoo. You could use brown sugar as a body scrub, and olive oil as face wash. Check out Pinterest for some great ideas!

DIY Recipes

If you like the idea of using alternatives, then you’re going to love the idea of making your own personal hygiene products! You don’t have to rely on name brand items anymore for your personal hygiene needs. Again you can just head on over to Pinterest, and find some great recipes for face masks, soap, body wash, shampoo, and pretty much anything you could think of!

Use Less

One of the best ways to save money on the personal hygiene products you already use, is to use less each time. Now, I understand there are limitations to how little you can use since I have super think and decently long hair. But, I can still have my hair looking great with about a quarter sized amount of shampoo.

Buy Generic

There are so many name brand personal hygiene items that I’m sure we all recognize and think we have to have. But the truth is, many times the generic versions are just as good. As I mentioned before though, just keep an eye on the ingredient list.

Find Free Samples

There are tons of ways you can score free personal hygiene samples. When you stay at a hotel, be sure to grab the complimentary shampoo and soap items they have in the bathroom. Also, feel free to reach out to your favorite brands and ask if they would mind sending you a sample to try? Many times you could get a sample, some coupons, or even a full- size product for free!

Buy in Bulk

If you see a personal hygiene item on sale at your local store, and you know you and your family use it often, I would recommend buying in bulk and stocking up. You may spend more money in the immediate now, but you won’t have to purchase these items again for a very long time.

Use Bar Soap Instead of Body Wash

I love body wash as much as the next person does, but it’s not a secret that bar soap is cheaper. The only time I purchase body wash is if I have a gift card to Bath and Body Works (because I love their body wash). Otherwise I am buying bar soap on sale, with a coupon, and I’m buying it in bulk.

Add Water

I hate waste! I’m sure you do to. It is really annoying when you can’t get the last of a product out of the bottle. Instead of throwing it away just add water. I would recommend a 3 parts product to 1 part water ratio to keep your product potent. But doing this helps extend the longevity of your personal hygiene items and doesn’t reduce the effectiveness of them!

One Brand Per Household

My husband and I are bad at this because we don’t want to smell like each other. But there are some personal hygiene items we can both use that are the same brand, such as the razors we get from Dollar Shave club, soap, and toothpaste! If you have a larger family, odds are everyone likes different brands. But it will be much more cost effective to you if you choose one brand and have everyone use that.

Use Swagbucks

This may seem off topic, but Swagbucks is one of the survey and offer sites I use to earn gift cards. If you want to devote a little bit of time each month to doing this you can earn gift cards to use towards personal hygiene items. I’ve already made over $25 in gift cards from spending maybe 2 minutes a day on this site. If you decide to check them out please use my referral link and let me know what you think!

I hope you find this list helpful and informative! My hope is that you are able to utilize some of these tips that I have shared to help cut down on your personal hygiene costs. Share below ways that you are able to cut down on these expenses! Also feel free to share and like this post on social media so we can show more how people how to reduce their spending!

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Amanda

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4 Comments

I just like going more time in between shaves. That way I can make each razor last for like a month each and then the gilette ripoff doesnt look too badMillennial Moola recently posted…What to Do When a Bunch of People Quit at Work